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Tuesday, October 01, 2013

More than 30 people were seriously injured after a pair of trains collided.

The crash happened just before 8
a.m. at Harlem Avenue and Interstate 290 in suburban Forest Park. A
westbound train that stopped at the Harlem station was struck by an
out-of-service, unmanned train heading toward the Loop.

Chicago Transit Authority officials reported 33 people, many complaining of severe neck or back pain were
transported to nine area hospitals.

Robert Kelly, of Amalgamated Transit Union 308, said it's still unclear what happened and how the train got out of the station. "Both the supervisor in the station
at Forest Park and the motorman who was sitting in the station said
there was nobody on the train as it went through and collided with the
other train," Kelly said. "This is baffling everybody," he said.

Chicago Transit Authority spokesman Brian Steele said there
are more questions than answers as staff reviews surveillance video and
talks to employees. "We don't know what the
circumstances are that led to this train to begin moving on the path
that it did," Steele said. "It shouldn't have done so and the question
of why is what we're looking into."

"That train never should have made it to the Forest Park station. It should have been tripped in the yard," Kelly said. Someone had to start the train, and
even if they bailed out, it had to travel up an incline and pass through
three different fail safe systems designed to stop it. The last fail
safe is located in the cab itself, designed to alert a motorman of
impending danger ahead.

Witnesses said at least one person was taken away on a stretcher, but the CTA tweeted the injuries were "minor." Loyola University Medical Center
confirmed they received four patients from the collision but said their
injuries were "not serious."